Episode 417: Star Wars
Kermit has booked Angus McGonagle, the argyle gargoyle who gargles Gershwin. But at the start of the show, the cast of Star Wars -- Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 -- smash through the wall, looking for Chewbacca. Kermit is thrilled to have them on his show, until he finds out that they won't actually perform anything. Luke mollifies Kermit by bringing in his "cousin", Mark Hamill -- but when Kermit sees Mark sing and dance, he throws him out. Finally, the Star Wars crew hijacks the Swinetrek. With First Mate Piggy subbing in as Princess Leia, they face Dearth Nadir (Gonzo) and his stormtrooper chickens, who are holding Chewbacca prisoner. Songs/Sketches * A Shepherd and sheep sing Rama Lama Ding Dong * Muppet News Flash: "National Sheep Dog Trials" * Scooter rehearses "Six String Orchestra" but is interrupted by a sheep * Angus McGonagle and Mark Hamill gargle "Summertime" * UK Spot: An eel, a shark and some fish sing "Three Little Fishies" * Scooter and The Electric Mayhem play "Six String Orchestra" * Pigs in Space: The Star Wars Cast Board the Swinetrek (part 1) * Muppet News Flash: "The Swinetrek has Landed" * Pigs in Space: The Star Wars Cast Board the Swinetrek (part 2) * Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Dearth Nadir (Gonzo) & Angus McGonagle, the crew of the Swinetrek and Kermit sing "You Are My Lucky Star"/"When You Wish Upon a Star" Notes *In this episode, Luke Skywalker is wearing his "Bespin uniform". This costume didn't appear until the latter part of The Empire Strikes Back, which at the time had yet to be released. A running gag throughout the episode sees several characters commenting favourably on the costume and asking "Who's your tailor?" *A similar thread to Empire was the announcement during Pigs in Space that Dearth Nadir's identity would be revealed in the segment. (although Gonzo first appeared as "Dearth Nadir" in episode 402, the true identity of Darth Vader was revealed in the movie which came out months after the original airing of this episode). *Though Kermit introduces the guest stars in the opening credits as "the stars of Star Wars," the episode is credited on the Time-Life video release as the "Mark Hamill" episode. *When the Odyssey Channel gave a sneak preview of its upcoming programming, this episode was shown, complete and uncut (with the exception of the Zoot ending, replaced with the Jim Henson Television logo), making this the only episode to be shown uncut on American TV. *In 2001 the Star Wars Insider magazine, issue 55, ran several articles about this episode of The Muppet Show. One of the articles, entitled "Shooting Gonzo into the Canon", made an attempt to fit the appearance into Star Wars canon, stating that "any Star Wars project authorized by Lucasfilm, and featuring Star Wars characters, can surely be placed into the formal, official canon of the Star Wars universe." *The idea of Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker being two different characters in the episode's plot came from Hamill's concern at the time about being typecast. In an interview, Dave Goelz stated that "he was rightfully concerned about being identified forever as Luke Skywalker, so for that reason, they wrote a dual storyline. Our whole stance was, we wanted guest stars to be able to do what they wanted to do." Star Wars Insider#55, p.55 Cast Guest Stars: :Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and R2-D2 (Himself). Muppets: :Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf, Angus McGonagle, Shepherd, Shepherdess, The Newsman, Animal, Robin the Frog, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Strangepork, Fish, Shark, Sheep Background Muppets: :Beauregard, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Nigel, Koozebanians, Whatnots Performers :Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, Link Hogthrob, Waldorf and the Newsman :Frank Oz as Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and Animal :Jerry Nelson as Angus McGonagle, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Floyd Pepper, Robin the Frog Eel and the Announcer :Richard Hunt as Scooter, Statler, Janice, Shepherd and Shark :Dave Goelz as Gonzo and Zoot :Louise Gold as Mother Fish :Steve Whitmire as Sheep :Kathy Mullen as others Edits When this episode aired on Nickelodeon, the following scenes were cut: *Scooter practicing for his big number *Mark Hamill and Angus McGonagle gargling Gershwin on-stage *the second Muppet News Flash When it aired on CTS, the UK sketch Three Little Fishes was cut. Sources External links *The Muppet Show at [[w:c:Starwars:Main Page|Wookieepedia - The Star Wars Wiki]] 417